Lady&#39;s garment



Oct. 12, 1943.

B. z. STRONG v LADY S GARMENT Filed March 6. 1942 INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 12, 1943 2,331,853 I LADYS GARMENT 7 Betty z. Strong, Setauket, N. Y. a Application March 6, 1942, Serial No. 433,573

UNITED: STATES PATENT iiOFFlCE -r.

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved lady's body garment, and relates more particularly, though not exclusively, to a novel undergarment or slip. L Bodyga-rments ofthis general character, and including integrally formed or attached waist and skirt portions, may be classified in three types. The first type is the bias cut garment which, because of its positioning of the several blanksof the garment relative to the weave of the material, gives a considerable amount of lateral stretch as it passes over the shoulders of the .wearer while being. placedon the body. When the wearer sits down the middle portion of the body expands, and the bias cut garment again accommodates itself tothis circumferential expansion at the expensahowever, of the length of the garment. This shortening of the garment causes it to ride up over the knees of the wearer and is very objectionable,

The second type'of garment is formed on the straight of the material and doesnotride up over the kneesof the wearer;'no rdoes it;h ave any circumferential expansion Accordingly, such a garment cannot be a snug fitting one, since it must be large enough to pass over'the shoulders of the wearer, and in a lady of' approved figure the shoulder measurement normally exceeds the waist measurement, so the result isan ill fitting garment.

The third type includes garments havingela'stic insertsin the side or back, or a vertical opening normally held closed by'a slide fastener or button arrangement. Despite the bulges produced by such fastener elements, and other objectionable features, the "garment nevertheless does fit the body, particularly "at the middle round, and the wearer can get the garment over her shoulders without breaking the seams open.

The reason why practically all garments, except those of the first and third type, in most cases have a sloppy fit, is because at some point between the waist and the upper end of the garment a non-elastic circumferential line or hoop is formed, and if the garment is to eventually get onto the body of thewearer it must be made large enough through this hoop-section to get over the wearers shoulders, which normally means a sloppy fitting garment through the waist section. a

The principal object of 'the present invention is the provision of an extremely novel garment,

the front of which is formedon the straight of the material, thus preventing any riding up when the wearer sits; the back, and particularly the waist section, is given a distinct bias effect without employing unimaginative bias panels, the garment being so formed as to eliminate this' non-stretchable area or hoop almost as completely as it is eliminated in the completebias garment, without, however, possessing any of the numerous objections to such garments.

Another object of the present invention is' the provision of a body garment formed essentially on the straight of the material and with a bias waist-encircling section, wherein such waist- Fig. 3 is a broken side elevation of the garment I showing the bust and waist-encircling portions. Fig. 4 is a plan view of one-half of theblank orpattern used in forming the main portion of the garment;

Fig. 5 is a plan view or pattern of a blank which is inserted in the Waist-encircling'portion on each side of the garment. I v

Fig. 6 is a plan viewof a folded blankor pat tern which may be inserted at the center'of the lower rear skirt portion'of the garment depend-- ing upon the size of theparticular garment. I A ladys slip is chosen for illustration of the invention in the drawing, although it will be apparent that the invention may be embodied in a nightgown, dress, or other body garment having waist and skirtportio'ns. i Y Fig. 4 shows the blank or pattern forming the main body portion of the garment and is desig nated by the reference numeral lllf This blank may be-formed from a substantially squarepiece of material folded along the line H, which line constitutes the front median line of the garment. Thus; the blank includes two integrally formed portions of substantially the shape shown in Fig. i. The lower edge I2 of the blank may be straight or convexly curved, as desired, and forms the lower edge of the garment. The blank thus includes opposed vertical edges l3 which are sub stantially parallel with the front median line H..-

Beginning at the point l 4 the blank is out along a straight or slightly curved line 15, such line terminating at, or adjacent to, the point l 8. In case thematerial employed is of greater than standard width, it is usually necessary to insert a small,

triangular gcdet or panel I! in the center of the lower rear skirt portion of the garment. This godet may be formed of two pieces of the shape shown in Fig. 6, although it may also be formed from a single piece of double the size of the blank shown at IT and folded along the line I8.

The edges I9 are joined to the edges I3 of the main blank forming stitch lines 20. Edges I are further joined together to form a single vertical seam 22 extending over the rear center vertical line of thegarmenttfrom. the point,I4 tpthe point Hi. In the event that wider materi'alis used; or in the event that a relatively small sized garment is being constructed, the godet Il may be elimi: nated completely, and the slightly curved line I5 extend from the point I6 downwardly to the lower? edge I2 of the garment.

A cut-out portion defined by lower edge 24* and upper edge is now formed inthe upper portion;

of the blank, the lower edge 24 extending from point I6 to point 26 which is located on either side of. the garment lus elow the bustncirclingportion. Upper edge 2 5.exte,nds from point 26 up wardlyto point 25!. The amount of material removedlirom the blankbetween lines.2.4.. and 251s dependen upon the size and sh pe of. the arment, and,- in many instances the blank is merely cut and no material, will be removed. Also, th invention is not limited to a concavely curved lower line-Manda oonvexly curvedupper line 2.5,

sincein some a es, d pendingr n siz of g rment.andfigure-tobefitted, the configuration oi timenes will bereversed. or. oth m y be made what irregularly shapedand is preferably-formed.

with an upper edge forming a continuation of upper edgelfi at'the rear of the garment, and a vertical edge 41 in alignment with stitch line 22 at the'rear ofthe garment. Itisfurther formed with; a diagonally inclined; straight or substantially; straight; e e 42, which is joined in. end to and relationship with lower curved edge 24on the main. blank forming stitch line 43, and a fourth di gonal dgedawhichis somewhat. shorter t an upper curved edge/A5, onthe main blank.

The intersection of edges 42, and. 45. is designated by thereference numeral, and the inter section of edges 40 and is designated by the reference'numeral. 4.1. Beiorecurved edge-25 is joined. to edge, 45; a plurality of conventional tucks, 5,0 and 5|. are formed in. the bust encircling portion between edges 26 and- 21. In the preferred embodiment the tuck 5I positioned to the rennet tuck 5D, is somewhat longer than tuck 50. Edge 450i b1ank39 isnow stitched to the shortrred ed e: 25. o he m in l k f rming stitch linev 5.4-. Thegupper edge of. th garment from point-31 and designated as 55, extends through the under-arm section, to the rear of the garment, and shoulder straps 34 are secured to such upper edge as at 56. I

It willbe noted from an examination of Fig. 4 that the entire front center portion of the ear.- ment liessubstantially on the straight: ofv the material, since front median line I I is on the straight of the material. When edge 24 of the blank is dropped, as by the insertion of blank 38, the material below stitch line 43 is on a distinct, though not complete, bias relative to the waist line of the garment. The extent to which line 24 is dropped depends somewhat upon the size of figure to be fitted, but only rarely would this line be dropped sufficiently to be parallel with the waist line of the garment.

The grain line of the materialabove line 25 is altered only slightly from that shown in the blank by virtue of forming tucks and SI and in view of the insertion of blank 39, no particular bias in this-bust-enclosing portion is required. One grain line of the material in blank 39 is preferably generallyparallel with upper edge 40, although if greater elasticity is required this may be varied somewhat. The lower rear skirt portion of the garment is on a distinct bias relative to the rear verticalseam 22, thus giving, such skirt portion the desired flexibility.

The blank forming, the main body portion. of the garment was earlier described herein as being cut from a substantially square piece of material, although itv will be appreciated that this blank may be formedinone or more pieces of material. For instance, it will be noted that the distance between points I6 (Fig. 1) at the front waist portionof thev garment. relatively short, and in order to save onmaterial the main blank may be formed in two pieces joined by a seam between these two points. The location of such a seam is shown in brokenline 5B in Fig. 4. Also. the general structural advantages of the garment willbe generally preserved withthis change, even asthey would be if the main. blank were formed from two, pieces. joined by a, seam along line II (Fig. 4),. Accordingly, when the main body p rtion of the garment is defined inthe appended claims as being formed from. a single blank, it will. be appreciated that. such, blank may be a single piece of material or a plurality of pieces joined together, as aforesaid; or in any other con.- venient manner.

.It will be further notedv that line 36 (Fig. 4-) defining the upperv edge of the blank, lies at sub.- stantially. a right angle to the. front median. line of the garment. This angle is illustrative. only and will vary according to the size of the garment constructed. For. instance, if the material is of limitedwidth, and it is not desired to insert a rear panel from theupper to the lower edge of the garment (as a substitute for triangularpanel ,I'I), thisupper edgewill lie atmore than a. right angle to front median line II, which causes the garment to, accommodate a wearer of larger bust dimensions.

a The vertical panel, lust mentioned, extending the full length of the garment isnot illustrated herein since it is a common expedient inmaking larger-sized garments with material of limited width, In theappended claims, however, whereverthe two opposed vertical edges are defined as being joined together to forms. rear vertical seam, it is understood that suchedges may be joined to each other by stitching,,or may bevjoined to the opposed edges of apanel of any shape, that is, with, non-parallel edges, such as blank H, or parallel edges, and extending all or any portion of the length of the garment.

' The fore oin Spe ific embodiment of: themvention, just described is illustrative of one garment which may be, constructed in accordance withthe invention, as defined by-the; appended claims. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is for the purpose of illustration only, and is not to be considered in any limiting sense. Also, many modifications and changes may be made without depriving the garment of its many unusual qualities.

What I claim is:

1. A body garment including skirt and waist portions and formed from a blank of material, the central longitudinal line of which is substantially on the straight of the material and forms the front median line of the garment, the opposed vertical edges of the blank extending from the upper edge thereof, downwardly and outwardly along a bias line, such edges being joined together to form a rear vertical seam, each side of the blank being out along a diagonal line extending from a point just below the bust-encircling portion to a point adjacent to the upper terminal of the rear vertical seam and forming opposed edges lying ona bias of the material, and a substantially triangular blank joined along two adjacent edges thereof to said opposed edges of each of the diagonal cuts, the point of intersection of said two adjacent edges of each triangular blank being positioned adjacent to the inner end of the diagonal cut. 7

2. A body garment including skirt and waist portions and formed from a generally rectangular blank of material, the central longitudinal line of which is on the straight of the material and forms the front median line of the garment, the opposed vertical edges of the blank being joined together to form a rear vertical seam, the blank having a cut-out portion on each side thereof extending from a point adjacent to the joinder of the upper edge with the rear vertical edge, downwardly toward the front of the garment, and terminating at a point adjacent to said front median line in the lower bust-encircling portion, the material on each side of said cut-out portions lying on a bias, and a substantially triangular blank inserted within each of such cut-out portions and being secured thereto along its opposed edges, the apex of each substantially-triangular blank being positioned adjacent to the inner terminal of the cut-out portion.

3. A body garment formed with skirt and waist portions and formed from a blank, the central longitudinal line of which is on the straight of the material and forms the front median line of the garment, the lower edge of the blank being of greater length than the upper edge and forming the lower edge of the garment, the two remaining edges extending along a generally diagonal line from the upper to the lower edges of the blank and being joined together to form a rear vertical scam, the blank having a generally diagonal cut extending from a point in the lower bust-enclosing portions to a point adjacent to the intersection of the upper and vertical edges at the back of the garment, and a smaller blank on each side of the garment and having two intersecting edges lying at an acute angle to each other, such edges being joined to the edges formed by the diagonal cut, the intersection of the two edges of the smaller blank being positioned ad jacent to the inner terminal of the diagonal cut.

4. A body garment formed from a blank of material, the central longitudinal line of which is substantially on the straight of the material and forms the front median line of the garment, the opposed vertical edges of the blank extending from the upper edge thereof, downwardly and outwardly on a bias relative to the grain line of the material, such edges being joined together to form a single rear vertical seam, each side of the blank being out along a diagonal line extending from a point just below the bust-encircling portion, adjacent to said front median line, to a point adjacent to the upper terminal of the rear vertical seam and forming opposed edges lying on a bias relative to the grain line of the material, the upper edge thereof being gathered to make such edge of lesser length than the lower edge,

and a smaller blank formed with two intersecting edges lying at an acute angle to each other being secured along such edges to the opposed edges formed by the diagonal cut,,the point of intersection of such two edges lying adjacent to the inner end of the diagonal cut.

BETTY ,Z. STRONG. 

